Umberto I | |||||
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Portrait in 1878.
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King of Italy (more...) | |||||
Reign | 9 January 1878 – 29 July 1900 | ||||
Predecessor | Victor Emmanuel II | ||||
Successor | Victor Emmanuel III | ||||
Prime Ministers | |||||
Born | 14 March 1844 Turin, Kingdom of Sardinia |
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Died | 29 July 1900 Monza, Kingdom of Italy |
(aged 56)||||
Burial | Pantheon, Rome, Kingdom of Italy | ||||
Consort | Margherita of Savoy | ||||
Issue | Victor Emmanuel III | ||||
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House | House of Savoy | ||||
Father | Victor Emmanuel II | ||||
Mother | Adelaide of Austria | ||||
Religion | Roman Catholicism | ||||
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Full name | |
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Umberto Ranieri Carlo Emanuele Giovanni Maria Ferdinando Eugenio di Savoia |
Styles of King Umberto I |
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Reference style | His Majesty |
Spoken style | Your Majesty |
Alternative style | Sir |
Umberto I (Italian: Umberto Ranieri Carlo Emanuele Giovanni Maria Ferdinando Eugenio di Savoia; 14 March 1844 – 29 July 1900), nicknamed the Good (Italian: il Buono), was the King of Italy from 9 January 1878 until his assassination on 29 July 1900.
Umberto's reign saw Italy attempt colonial expansion into the Horn of Africa, successfully gaining Eritrea and Somalia despite being defeated by Abyssinia at the Battle of Adowa in 1896. In 1882, he approved the Triple Alliance with the German Empire and Austria-Hungary.
He was deeply loathed in leftist circles because of his conservatism and support of the Bava-Beccaris massacre in Milan. He was especially hated by anarchists, who attempted an assassination on him during the first year of his reign. He was killed by another anarchist, Gaetano Bresci, two years after the Bava-Beccaris massacre.
The son of Victor Emmanuel II and Archduchess Adelaide of Austria, Umberto was born in Turin, which was then capital of the Kingdom of Sardinia, on 14 March 1844, his father's 24th birthday. His education was entrusted to, amongst others, Massimo Taparelli, marquis d'Azeglio and Pasquale Stanislao Mancini.
From March 1858 he had a military career in the Sardinian army, beginning with the rank of captain. Umberto took part in the Italian Wars of Independence: he was present at the battle of Solferino in 1859, and in 1866 commanded the XVI Division at the Villafranca battle that followed the Italian defeat at Custoza.